‘At least we would know’ : DNA testing offers families hope of identifying Nepal flood victims

When Amrit Diyali saw a human hand washed downstream by floodwaters, he was struck by how closely it resembled his younger brother Raj Kumar’s.

Raj Kumar, 33, has been missing along with his wife Shriti, 30, and their four-year-old son Siraj since devastating floods struck Nepal on August 26.

“I found a hand that looks exactly like uncle’s,” Diyali’s nephew Avinash told him after sending him a photograph of the severed hand, according to The Kathmandu Post.

For Diyali’s family, the discovery brought both hope and dread. A DNA test is now their only chance of knowing whether the remains belong to Raj Kumar.

Their ordeal reflects a much larger challenge facing Nepal, where authorities are relying on DNA testing to identify hundreds of bodies recovered after the floods and help families locate relatives who remain missing.

Flash floods triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26 devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal. The Bhotekoshi River carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and around 5,000 remain missing.

Nepal Police has collected 2,272 DNA samples so far — 1,260 from bodies and 1,012 from relatives — as authorities try to establish the identities of those killed, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Authorities said 1,030 bodies had been buried after DNA samples and other identification procedures were completed. Of these, 222 were women, 355 were men and the sex of 453 bodies could not be established.

Only 96 bodies have so far been handed over to families after identification, according to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

The challenge of identifying the dead

Bodies recovered after being swept downstream have often been severely damaged, decomposed or recovered only in parts, making identification through faces, clothing or personal belongings difficult.

Prolonged immersion in water and exposure to mud and debris can destroy identifiable features, while some remains have been fragmented or mixed with other remains.

Fingerprints and dental records can also help establish identities, but their usefulness depends on the condition of the remains and the availability of matching records.

Forensic experts say DNA testing has therefore become crucial. But the process can take time and often requires biological samples from both unidentified remains and close relatives for comparison.

For families such as the Diyalis, however, identification is about more than forensic science. It can bring an end to days of uncertainty and allow them to perform the final rites of their loved ones.

Searching for a family

Raj Kumar, his wife Shriti and their son Siraj were living in Syaphrubesi in Rasuwa district when the Bhotekoshi flood struck.

His relatives searched along the river as far as Chitwan and Nawalpur, turning over mud and stones in the hope of finding the family. When they could not find them alive, they began looking for their bodies.

Five days after the flood, Avinash found the hand in Nawalpur. The family sent a sample to the National Forensic Science Laboratory in Kathmandu on Tuesday for DNA testing.

The sample is 182nd in line for testing, according to Diyali.

“We have stopped hoping for anything else,” he told The Kathmandu Post. “Even if that hand turns out to be my brother’s, at least we would know for sure.”

To make the process easier for families, Nepal Police has opened a DNA sample collection centre in Bidur, Nuwakot, allowing relatives of missing people to provide samples without travelling to Kathmandu, the Ratopati news portal reported.

Deputy Inspector General of Nepal Police Hospital Damodar Poudel said samples from close blood relatives, including parents, children and siblings, are particularly useful for comparison with DNA obtained from unidentified bodies.

Authorities have also uploaded details of 1,270 unidentified bodies on the Nepal Police website so families can check whether their missing relatives are among those recovered, The Kathmandu Post reported.

For families still waiting, the process offers something the flood has taken away: certainty.